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Library | Call Number | Material Type | Home Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Library | J SPANISH PIC BOOK | Juvenile Fiction | Childrens Area-Picture Books | Searching... |
| Frank E. Merriweather Library | J SPANISH PIC BOOK | Juvenile Fiction | Picture Books | Searching... |
| Lackawanna Library | J SPANISH PIC BOOK | Juvenile Fiction | Foreign Language | Searching... |
On Order
Summary
Summary
Marina is a girl with great imagination. With equal facility, she can imagine herself in Mexico, the country from which her grandfather came, or Hawaii, her grandmother's homeland. After looking at pictures of her aunts and cousins in colorful muumuus, Marina decides she wants one for herself.
Summary
Marina has always dreamed of having a colorful muumuu, the traditional dress of the Hawaiian people, and finally goes to the bustling downtown with her grandmother to buy the fabric.
Author Notes
Julian Nava and his wife live on their horse ranch near San Diego, close to their children and four grandchildren. A long-time professor at California State University at Northridge, he has published numerous books and articles on Mexican-American life and education
Reviews 3
Booklist Review
Gr. 2-5. A cheerful story about Marina, who loves to imagine places she has never been. She loves her grandfather's stories about Mexico, and her grandmother's about the islands of Hawaii. She decides she wants a muumuu in all the colors and motifs of the tropics, like the one she sees in her mind's eye. She and her grandmother go downtown, but do not find what Marina longs for (the image of her with droopy expression wearing a confection of fuchsia and bows is irresistible). At last, in a fabric store, they locate just the right cloth, and bring it home to make the muumuu of her dreams. Gloriously bright tropical colors and patterns fill these gaily decorated pages; Marina, with her wavy dark hair and emerald eyes, fits right in. The simple text appears in both Spanish and English. --GraceAnne A. DeCandido
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-Marina is a girl with great imagination. With equal facility, she can imagine herself in Mexico, the country from which her grandfather came, or Hawaii, her grandmother's homeland. After looking at pictures of her aunts and cousins in colorful muumuus, Marina decides she wants one for herself. She has a particular combination in mind: hot pink and lime green, sea blue, turquoise, and magenta. She saves her money and then, though she and her grandmother look and look, not a store has the garment of her dreams. It is not until she stumbles into a fabric shop that she finds what she wants. This deceptively simple story reads as well in Spanish as it does in English-a smooth contemplative prose that calls up both the quiet of the islands and the busy, anticipatory swirl of the marketplace. Torrecilla's acrylic cartoon illustrations in bright, hot colors catch the eye and hold it, making this a good choice for group sharing. Use it with Pat Mora's The Rainbow Tulip (Viking, 1999) for stories about the significance clothing can carry. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 7-12. The son of poor Mexican immigrants, respected educator and politician Nava tells his inspiring life story with refreshing candor. After a short stint in the navy during WW II, he attended Pomona College, and then earned a Ph.D. at Harvard. As a 12-year member (sometimes president) of the Los Angeles School Board, he gained attention for his controversial stands on integration and bilingual education. He was the first Mexican American to serve as ambassador to Mexico. He relates his story with honesty, pride, and full acknowledgment of community support, but he is not afraid to talk about corruption and conflict. His discussion of «black/brown» conflict makes for some of the book's most interesting passages. The book is clearly geared toward young people, but the narrative tone is dry. However, as primary source material, especially for high-school students, this is an invaluable resource. Debbie Carton.
Table of Contents
| Foreword | p. ix |
| Chapter 1 My Mexican Roots | p. 1 |
| Chapter 2 My Early Barrio Memories | p. 5 |
| Chapter 3 Our Presbyterian Church Life | p. 16 |
| Chapter 4 Aviation Machinist Mate Third Class | p. 20 |
| Chapter 5 From the Barrio to College | p. 24 |
| Chapter 6 A Barrio Boy at Harvard University | p. 30 |
| Chapter 7 Doctoral Research in Venezuela | p. 34 |
| Chapter 8 A Mexican-American Ph.D. | p. 39 |
| Chapter 9 Teaching in Puerto Rico | p. 42 |
| Chapter 10 Coming to Teach in Northridge | p. 48 |
| Chapter 11 Pat and I Start Our Married Life in Spain | p. 50 |
| Chapter 12 Founding a College in Bogotá | p. 63 |
| Chapter 13 Entry into Politics in Los Angeles | p. 66 |
| Chapter 14 Twelve Years on the Los Angeles School Board | p. 70 |
| Chapter 15 The East Los Angeles Walkouts in 1968 | p. 82 |
| Chapter 16 The Chicano Movement | p. 88 |
| Chapter 17 Leveraging the School Board Position Nationally | p. 97 |
| Chapter 18 Bilingual Education Comes to Los Angeles Schools | p. 101 |
| Chapter 19 The School Integration Issue in Los Angeles | p. 108 |
| Chapter 20 Chicano Studies in American Higher Education | p. 117 |
| Chapter 21 Our Charro Traditions | p. 125 |
| Chapter 22 Black and Brown Conflict over a University Presidency | p. 128 |
| Chapter 23 Our Ambassadorial Experience in Mexico | p. 136 |
| Chapter 24 A New Ambassador | p. 166 |
| Chapter 25 Back in California | p. 187 |
| Chapter 26 Building Our Dream House in the Mountains | p. 189 |
| Chapter 27 Producing a Documentary and Reflecting on Communist Cuba | p. 193 |
| Chapter 28 Mexican Ejidos | p. 201 |
| Chapter 29 Selling Tortillas to China | p. 204 |
| Chapter 30 The Los Angeles Music and Arts School | p. 210 |
| Chapter 31 Nava for Mayor of Los Angeles | p. 214 |
| Chapter 32 My Trip to Siberia | p. 223 |
| Chapter 33 Teaching at My Alma Mater | p. 229 |
| Chapter 34 Facing the End of My Journey | p. 231 |